Category: Bible Study

*But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John 19:25-27

(Revised Standard Version)

In lieu of notes on context, translation and vocabulary, the following is a synopsis by Kristen West McGuire of a commentary on this section of the book of John by Adrienne von Speyr, a Swiss mystic and doctor of the mid-20th century.

Alongside John, the beloved disciple, there are three women at the foot of the cross. Mary, the mother, personifies the suffering of the righteous. Conversely, the Magdalene personifies the sinners for whom Jesus dies. The wife of Clopas in the middle gives roundness to the reality that Jesus died for all of us, even the garden variety Catholic woman. Von Speyr reminds us that “one need be neither exceptionally pure, nor exceptionally sinful in order to be looked upon in a special way by the Lord at the cross.” Thus, we should never assume that our most ordinary of days nor mundane duties keep us from salvation.

Many humble, quiet days of work in the home separated Nazareth from Golgotha for Mary. From the moment of the Annunciation, Mary was the “potential” mother, just as Jesus in the womb was the “potential” Redeemer. When potential turned to reality, Jesus the divine Redeemer bequeathed divine Motherhood upon his mother. “…fruitful Christian motherhood,” exhorts von Speyr, “…lives as joy in self-sacrificing devotedness.”

We are the recipients of her devotion now. “Bodily fruitfulness requires overseeing the fruit.” finishes von Speyr. Conversely, “Fruitfulness in the Lord requires giving up all claim to overseeing one’s life.” Her obedience is intertwined in ours.

Mary’s obedience helps us aspire to eternal salvation. The grace which opened the gates of heaven to all men makes Jesus our brother, and thus His Mother our mother. Like so many Christians, I received Mary in darkness, barely aware of her intercession at first. Her obedience mysteriously enables my own.

What about John? Jesus’ bond with John is not like intimacy as many of us live it. Love for Jesus is expansive and open; not limited to those within its hold, and impossible to keep within. Whatever we receive of Jesus’ love is meant to be shared, not the extra, but all that we receive. As Jesus shares His love with John, it exponentially expands to the disciples and beyond, even to us here in the present.

Jesus gives his mother to John in the same virginal love that she bore Him in Bethlehem. It is a pure love that reflects directly the loving gaze of the Father in obedience and submission. Where others may look upon the virginal love and see only renunciation and hardship, its divine counterpart is unlimited fruitfulness. Mary receives us, nurtures us, and returns us to God the Father in love. Our fruit is her Fruit.

Discussion Questions:

Pretend to be John. You are to take the Blessed Virgin into your home to care for her. Yet, she will also care for you. What gifts can you offer her? What gifts might she offer to you?

Three women named Mary are at the foot of the cross during the passion – the Blessed Virgin suffering, the wife of Clopas present, the sinner Magdalene grateful – which one are you?

Isaiah 24:15-18: “Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated. Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.”

(From the Douay-Rheims translation of the Latin Vulgate)

Edith Stein was a young post-grad student, the rising star of her circle in Gottingen under famed philosopher Edmund Husserl. When she embraced baptism in 1922, her best friend Hedwig Conrad-Martius demanded to know why. Stein never responded, but wrote, “secretum meum mihi,” on a nearby page of paper. (Latin for “mysecret is mine, or my secret is unto me.” Indeed, her conversion was devastating to her Jewish family. And although she was aware of a vocation to Carmel early on, at the advice of her confessor, she chose not to follow for over a decade.

Edith Stein is not the only one to have quoted this tidbit “Secretum Meum Mihi” in relation to keeping the inner details of one’s faith private. The famous English convert John Henry Newman quotes it in his conversion account Apologia Pro Vita Sua, and St. Philip Neri also quotes it in his exhortations to his followers. And Bernard of Clairvaux, the great Cistercian, quotes it in relation to a commentary on the Song of Songs. All of them concurred: a relationship with Jesus Christ was a mystery one could never fully explain to anyone.

Context: This section of the book of Isaiah is known as his Apocalypse. Apocalyptic literature often focused on a future “day of the Lord”, when the “just one” would reward the good and punish the bad. In this particular passage, the human praise of the Just One is side by side with His expected wrath to sinners

Against the bloody backdrop of current Middle East politics, we might be excused for taking the whole section far too grimly to heart. Will the Lord deliver us? Do my secret longings for God’s mercy open me up to His justice? Yet, being set free implies the truth that we are imprisoned…spiritually, emotionally, and otherwise.

Translation Notes: Almost certainly, the Bible in your home does not have “my secret is unto me” in it at Isaiah 24:16. Because there are no vowels in Hebrew, a variety of translations are possible, and the context is thus very important. The original Hebrew word, r-z-h, transliterated “ryzyk”, translates roughly to “thinness, or leanness”. Within the context of the passage, the Latin translation connotes a certainty of weakness as one faces the coming judgment. Subsequent English translations of the original Hebrew use “leanness” – “I waste away,” or “I pine away”. (Or – I’m skinny! Woe is me!)

Vocabulary

The Just One: a reference to the coming of the Messiah in Jewish apocalyptic literature, who would judge and punish the unrighteous in the last days

Prevaricators: Those who deviate from the truth

The Pit: Hell, or more technically, Sheol, a concept of the afterlife in which one does not merit God’s friendship.

Discussion Questions:

Do you often find yourself speechless when situations arise that give you cause to mention your faith? How, when and where do you NOT feel safe saying you are a Christian?

How do we find the courage to admit we belong to Jesus? Do we have an obligation as Christians to confront “prevaricators?”

Edith Stein was ultimately killed at Auschwitz for being Jewish. Religious persecution remains a serious problem today. What should Christians in “safe” countries do to support their suffering and persecuted brothers and sisters in oppressed lands?